As mentioned many times -- all federal vaccine mandate cases are being routed automatically to the federal 6th Circuit Court. Any decision by a federal judge or other court (except SCOTUS) regarding the vaccine mandate is merely temporary -- since all cases will move on to the federal 6th Circuit Court. Today the 6th allowed Biden's vaccine mandate for employers to take effect. Court allows Biden employer vaccine mandate to take effect https://www.wral.com/court-allows-biden-employer-vaccine-mandate-to-take-effect/20040913/ A federal appeals court panel on Friday allowed President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for larger private employers to move ahead, reversing a previous decision on a requirement that could affect some 84 million U.S workers. The 2-1 decision by a panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati overrules a decision by a federal judge in a separate court that had paused the mandate nationwide. The mandate from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration was to take effect Jan. 4. With Friday’s ruling, it’s not clear when the requirement might be put in place, but the White House said in a statement that it will protect workers: "Especially as the U.S. faces the highly transmissible Omicron variant, it’s critical we move forward with vaccination requirements and protections for workers with the urgency needed in this moment.” Republican state attorneys general and conservative groups said they would appeal Friday’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. Twenty-seven Republican-led states joined with conservative groups, business associations and some individual businesses to push back against the requirement as soon as OSHA published the rules in early November. They argued the agency was not authorized to make the emergency rule, in part because the coronavirus is a general health risk and not one faced only by employees at work. The panel's majority disagreed. “Given OSHA’s clear and exercised authority to regulate viruses, OSHA necessarily has the authority to regulate infectious diseases that are not unique to the workplace,” Judge Julia Smith Gibbons, who was nominated to the court by former President George W. Bush, a Republican, wrote in her majority opinion. “Vaccination and medical examinations are both tools that OSHA historically employed to contain illness in the workplace,” she wrote. Gibbons noted that the agency's authority extends beyond just regulating “hard hats and safety goggles.” She said the vaccine requirement “is not a novel expansion of OSHA’s power; it is an existing application of authority to a novel and dangerous worldwide pandemic.” She was joined in the majority decision by Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch, an appointee of former President Barrack Obama, a Democrat. The case was consolidated in the 6th circuit, which is dominated by Republican-appointed judges. Earlier this week, the circuit's active judges rejected a move to have the entire panel consider the case, on an 8-8 vote. The dissent in Friday's ruling came from Judge Joan Larsen, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, who said Congress did not authorize OSHA to make this sort of rule and that it did not qualify as a necessity to use the emergency procedures the agency followed to put it in place. Larsen also argued that vaccinated workers “do not face ‘grave danger’ from working with those who are not vaccinated.” Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, a Republican, said she would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to block the order. At least two conservative advocacy groups said they had already appealed to the nation's highest court. “The Sixth Circuit’s decision is extremely disappointing for Arkansans because it will force them to get the shot or lose their jobs,” Rutledge said. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who also is chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, said in a Twitter message Friday that he was confident the mandate could be stopped. The vaccine requirement would apply to companies with 100 or more employees and would cover about 84 million workers in the U.S. Employees who are not fully vaccinated would have to wear face masks and be subject to weekly COVID-19 tests. There would be exceptions, including for those who work outdoors or only at home. The administration has estimated that the rule would save 6,500 lives and prevent 250,000 hospitalizations over six months. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor, which includes OSHA, said the 6th circuit's ruling will allow the agency to implement “common-sense, science-based measures to keep workers safe and healthy during a deadly pandemic.” The vaccine rule for private employers is separate from other vaccine mandates announced by the Biden administration that apply to federal government contractors and workers in health care facilities that receive funding from Medicaid or Medicare. Those rules also are under assault from conservatives and have been paused in at least some parts of the country.
The next stop is expected to be the U.S. Supreme Court... which has been refusing to hear appeals of cases recently challenging vaccination mandates. U.S. COVID-19 vaccine mandate revived, Supreme Court showdown looms https://www.reuters.com/business/he...accine-or-test-rule-us-workplaces-2021-12-18/ A U.S. appeals court on Friday reinstated a nationwide vaccine-or-testing COVID-19 mandate for large businesses, which covers 80 million American workers, prompting opponents to rush to the Supreme Court to ask it to intervene. The ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati lifted a November injunction that had blocked the rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which applies to businesses with at least 100 workers. "It is difficult to imagine what more OSHA could do or rely on to justify its finding that workers face a grave danger in the workplace," said the opinion. "It is not appropriate to second-guess that agency determination considering the substantial evidence, including many peer-reviewed scientific studies, on which it relied." President Joe Biden unveiled in September regulations to increase the adult vaccination rate as a way of fighting the pandemic, which has killed more than 750,000 Americans and weighed on the economy. The ruling coincides with public health officials bracing for a "tidal wave" of coronavirus infections in the United States as the more transmissible Omicron variant spreads rapidly worldwide. "While we are disappointed in the Court’s decision, we will continue to fight the illegal mandate in the Supreme Court," South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said on Twitter. "We are confident the mandate can be stopped." Within hours of the ruling, at least three petitions were filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to immediately block the mandate. A group of business groups representing retail, wholesale, warehousing, transportation, travel and logistics filed one of the first petitions with the high court, raising among other issues the potential for workers to quit rather than take the shot. "The resulting labor upheaval will devastate already fragile supply chains and labor markets at the peak holiday season," said the petition. Companies such as United Airlines (UAL.O) have used mandates to increase the number of vaccinated employees, often with only a small number of workers refusing the shots. read more But others such as Boeing Co (BA.N) have suspended their plans, in part because of court rulings putting government mandates on hold, but also due to resistance among workers. read more Courts have blocked Biden's vaccine requirement for healthcare workers in half the states and a vaccine mandate for federal contractors has been blocked nationwide. read more Friday's ruling was 2-1 with Judges Jane Stranch, appointed by President Barack Obama, and Julia Gibbons, appointed by President George W. Bush, in the majority. Judge Joan Larsen, appointed by President Donald Trump, dissented. Republicans, conservative groups and trade organizations sued over the OSHA rule, arguing the agency overstepped its authority. read more The rule set a Jan. 4 deadline for compliance, although it was unclear if that will be enforced because the rule was blocked for weeks.
Appeals court reinstates Biden’s vaccine policy for businesses, setting up a likely showdown at Supreme Court After the ruling Friday night, lawyers for the challengers quickly asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block the vaccination policy once again. Separately, the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to allow it to fully enforce a nationwide requirement that health-care workers be vaccinated if they work at facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid. Lower courts have suspended the policy after 24 states filed lawsuits. On Friday, the Supreme Court told challenging states to respond to the administration’s petition by Dec. 30, which would not leave the court much time for a decision.
Citations over U.S. vaccine mandate could begin in early January https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ci...mandate-could-begin-early-january-2021-12-18/ A U.S. federal agency on Saturday said it could start issuing citations to companies as soon as Jan. 10 for failure to comply with a nationwide mandate that they either vaccinate or test regularly for COVID-19, as a U.S. Supreme Court showdown over the policy looms. The announcement came one day after a U.S. appeals court reinstated the Biden administration policy that requires large businesses to verify employees are vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing. Another court in November had blocked the rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the legal battle is expected to continue to the Supreme Court. On Saturday, OSHA said it would not cite companies for any kind of noncompliance with the rule before Jan. 10 "to provide employers with sufficient time to come into compliance." OSHA also said citations around COVID-19 testing would not begin before Feb. 9. The OSHA rule applies to businesses with at least 100 workers and covers 80 million American workers. The rule has triggered a significant backlash, particularly in Republican-leaning states. Republicans hope to make popular frustration with COVID-19 safety measures a central theme in political campaigns ahead of the November 2022 congressional elections, when Republican hope to seize control of Congress. President Joe Biden has argued the vaccine mandate is essential for fighting the pandemic, which has killed more than 750,000 Americans and weighed on the economy. Biden will announce new steps for fighting the pandemic on Tuesday, a White House spokesperson said. The debate coincides with public health officials bracing for a "tidal wave" of coronavirus infections in the United States as the more transmissible Omicron variant spreads rapidly worldwide. read more
Kavanaugh asks Biden to respond to flood of vaccine mandate appeals, SCOTUS set to take up high-stakes case The appeals went to Kavanaugh because of geography – he oversees emergency appeals from the Sixth Circuit. The Supreme Court is not considering the full validity of the OSHA ETS on vaccines. It is only considering whether to temporarily halt the implementation of the rule while litigation in lower courts decides the issue on the merits. If the rule goes into effect when the Biden administration wants it to, tens of millions of workers in businesses across the country will be subject to the mandate and forced to either get a vaccination or submit to a weekly COVID testing regime. Kavanaugh set a deadline of 4 p.m. Dec. 30 for the Biden administration to respond to the appeals. It is possible the court will then take action on the case early in 2022.